{"id":25604,"date":"2020-05-06T08:46:53","date_gmt":"2020-05-06T12:46:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordontennis.com\/?p=25604"},"modified":"2020-05-06T08:46:53","modified_gmt":"2020-05-06T12:46:53","slug":"covid-19-tennis-change-how","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/tennis\/2020\/05\/06\/covid-19-tennis-change-how\/","title":{"rendered":"After Covid-19 Tennis Has To Change. Here’s How"},"content":{"rendered":"

Tennis may have experienced something of a golden age over the past decade-and-a-half, with prize money rocketing up, in no small part due to the presence of some of the greatest players of all time. But now tennis has to change. Because the suspension of the season due to the coronavirus pandemic<\/a> has laid bare, once and for all, the sport’s biggest problem. Far too few are able to make a living playing tennis.<\/p>\n

The Problem<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Sadly, players ranked outside the lucrative top 100 have always struggled to scrape by. Basic expenses like food, travel, and lodging typically total $75,000 per year, yet annual incomes above $120,000 for players on the Challenger and ITF circuits are rare, given the meagre prize money at that level. So whilst top players worry about which coach or physio might take them to the next level, lower-level players have to count each penny in the hopes of one day rising high enough to earn some real money.<\/p>\n

Of course, that isn’t to say that the problem with tennis is its gaping disparity in prize monies at the upper and lower levels. Indeed, the top players arguably deserve their fortunes. It\u2019s not easy perfecting your game. No, instead, the issue with our sport is that at its lower levels, where future stars are supposed to develop their skills with singular focus, players are offered distractingly unliveable pay. And now that the suspension of the season has left them flat-footed with no savings to fall back on, the calls for radical change are getting louder.<\/p>\n

A Call for Change<\/strong><\/h3>\n

The most prominent recent outcry has been from Serena Williams\u2019 long-time coach, Patrick Mouratoglou. \u201cSTOP,\u201d he passionately tweeted on April 7. \u201cWe can\u2019t leave lower-ranked players behind anymore. This is not right. Tennis needs to change<\/em>. Let\u2019s use this free time to start a discussion.\u201d Hear, hear! And for a blueprint for change, perhaps we should look no further than\u2026 China!<\/p>\n

An Outline of a Potential Solution<\/strong><\/h3>\n

In the interest of systematically helping tennis\u2019s lower-ranked players, I suggest every federation takes from China the following elements of its national tennis program:<\/p>\n